Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Pakistan Business Professional Council (PBPC) Abu Dhabi in continuation to update overseas Pakistanis about the Roshan Digital Account organized the 11th webinar in collaboration with the Pakistan Embassy UAE, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Austria-Pakistan Association, and representatives from the 11 European Countries on 21 December 2022 via Zoom.
Roshan Digital Account has been set to drive sustainable GDP Growth, as it helped the government and the State Bank of Pakistan improve the external account of the country since it is launched.
The event was arranged in line with the policy of the Government of Pakistan to facilitate the citizens abroad and financially connect them to Pakistan’s banking channel in the easiest and most befitting manner.
It was attended by the Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, H.E. Faisal Niaz Tirmi, Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Imtiaz Feroz Gonad, Senior officials of SBP, Mr. Syed Iran Ali and Ms. Saima Hameed, Joint Director Exchange Policy Department and Pakistani community members across the UAE region and European Countries – Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, and Greece.
Dr. S. Qaiser Anis, President of Pakistan Business Professional Council Abu Dhabi, opened the webinar by welcoming and thanking the participants and speakers for attending.
In his remarks, H.E. Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE emphasized promoting business, Investments, between the two countries.
Further, Mr. Ambasador mentioned that Roshan Digital Account in UAE has been a roaring success and that RDA should continue to ensure becoming the most effective and most convenient way for Overseas Pakistanis.
Mr. Syed Irfan Ali, Managing Director SBP, in his remarks thanked the Council for organizing another webinar to promote the new era of banking in Pakistan for overseas Pakistani through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA). He briefed the participants on the current update on the result of the RDA since it was launched a few months back and highlighted the salient aspects of the Government’s initiatives.
Ms. Saima Hameed, Joint Director Exchange Policy Department, presented the Product Value Proposition and Special Regulatory Support for Roshan Digital Account, as well as, the Roshan Digital Business Account.
She added that for query handling and compliant resolution mechanism, Banks have a dedicated customer complaint resolution mechanism on a 24/7 basis and have a dedicated Relations Manager. At the SBL level, NRPs may also share their feedback on RDA at Support@sbp.org.pk.
Dr. Qaiser Anis discussed the salient points of the webinar in detail, and the immense benefit received by Overseas Pakistanis, such as:
- The RDA deposit attends above 6 Billion USD, as there are withdrawn and there are deposits also.
- Moreover, he mentioned that the annual deposit for Overseas Pakistanis is more than 31 billion US. Pakistan’s next point for strength is under the IMF program which already met the balance payment, received in December. Pakistan was no longer listed in FATF.
- Funds received from the World Bank, with respect to the flood, already received more than a billion dollars. There are challenges, but all have been tackled.
- We are trying to control our expenditures, and live with our resources.
- For the depositors, the Naya Pakistan Certificate is a government certificate giving the best rate of return and will be honoured by the Government of Pakistan
- In the year 2023, more facilities will be provided, with respect to the RDA business account, and soon this will be announced.
- The 14 Pakistani Banks are working 24hrs for the RDA and its affiliated products.
- In the case of dormancy of the account, a good thing is, this can be revived digitally, which is the biggest benefit and comfort for the RDA Account holders.
The State Bank team and community members applauded the Council’s efforts to arrange the event to have first-hand information on the RDA and interaction among the participating major banks in Pakistan. The presentations were followed by the question-and-answer session by the community members.
The webinar was attended by prominent Pakistani community members and representatives of leading community organizations and business hailing from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and various parts of the emirates, as well as, from other GCC countries and European countries
A word of thanks by Mr. Mohd. Iqbal Nasim, Vice President Programme. The event was broadcasted live on Council’s Facebook page and viewed by hundreds of overseas Pakistanis, as well.
To view the replay of the webinar please click here